International Oscar Finals: Meet the Directors, Consider the Stats
Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 5:26PM by Nathaniel R
In some ways the competition for "Best International Feature Film" is the longest of Oscar races. It begins as early as the fall festivals in the previous year when titles that have not yet debuted in their home countries begin showing their faces. By the time Cannes rolls around it's in full swing. The first contest for each buzzy film, within this awards context of course, is to be submitted by its home country. The second big hurdle is making the finalist list of 15 which is where we are right now. The announcement of the 15 Oscar finalists this year has the usual mix of high profile contenders and 'oh, didn't see that one coming!' surprises. A high profile only gets you so far in this race -- notice that French Cannes champ Titane and Romanian Berlinale champ Bad Luck Banging... are both missing from the finals.
Let's meet the directors behind the 15 films vying for those 5 nomination slots...
BLERTA BASHOLLI | KOSOVO | HIVE
The 38 year old Kosovan filmmaker's debut was the first film to win all three of the top World Cinema prizes at Sundance (Grand Jury, Audience Award, and Directing) but the buzz went quieter afterwards. Now things can get loud again since she's made the finalist list. [REVIEWED]
🇽🇰 - 8 submissions, never nominated.
ABNER BENAIM | PANAMA | PLAZA CATEDRAL
This is the third Oscar submission for Panama from this 50 year old filmmaker. He was previously submitted for Invasion (2014) which was Panama's first-ever submission and Ruben Blades is Not My Name (2018). Those are both documentaries which is his usual playground but Plaza Catedral is a rare narrative outing.
🇵🇦 -8 submissions, never nominated.
PAWO CHOYNING DORJI | BHUTAN | A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM
This is a debut feature from 38 year-old photographer turned director Pawo Choyniing Dorji. It's about a young man who is assigned to teach school children in a remote village in the Himalayas but doesn't want to be there (at first). This is the first time we've noticed in our 21 years of following this particular Oscar race closely, a situation where the Academy has 'reversed' a ruling or, in this case, possibly just deferred a film until the next season while correct procedures were being set up. Bhutan originally announced this film as a submission last season but the film was disqualified (something to do with the selection committee). Now, a year later, it's there!
🇧🇹 -2 submissions, never nominated
ASGHAR FARHADI | IRAN | A HERO
A Hero is the fifth Oscar submission from the already legendary 49 year old auteur. He's Iran's second most submitted director after Majid Majidi (who was the first to secure a nomination for his home country with Children of Heaven, 1998). Oscar wins in Best International Feature don't technically belong to the Director but instead to the country of origin. But countries don't make movies, directors do. Therefore in our eyes Farhadi is already a two-time Oscar winner for the masterpiece A Separation (2011) and the merely very excellent The Salesman (2016) and, according to most early buzz, he's done it again with his latest complex morality tale. Could he win again? It would be quite a feat. The only directors who have managed more than two competitive wins in the category are Ingmar Bergman (3 for Sweden) and Federico Fellini (4 for Italy). [REVIEWED]
🇮🇷- 27 submissions. 3 nominations. 2 wins. 1 finalist
RYÛSUKE HAMAGUCHI | JAPAN | DRIVE MY CAR
This is the well-loved writer/director's first Oscar submission. He's made nine features to date including internationally well received gems like Asako I and II and Happy Hour. This year the 43 year-old director has not one but two prize-winning films making the rounds, Drive My Car (numerous festival prizes including Screenplay at Cannes) and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Silver Bear at Berlinale). [REVIEWED]
🇯🇵 -65 submissions. 13 nominations. 1 win. 3 Honoraries. 1 finalist
TATIANA HUEZO | MEXICO | PRAYERS FOR THE STOLEN
This is the second submission for the 49 year old director who was born in Salvador but lives and works in Mexico. The first was Tempestad (2002), a documentary. Prayers for the Stolen is her narrative debut but her fourth feature. We recently interviewed her. [REVIEWED]
🇲🇽 - 54 submissions. 9 nominations. 1 win. 2 finalists
VALDIMAR JÓHANNSSON | ICELAND | LAMB
Iceland has been a hot spot for Hollywood spectacle filmmaking for some time now so Johannsson, now 43, got his break first as a grip and electrician and then as a specialist effects technician (which he still does, most recently on The Tomorrow War). He was also on the visual effects team of Prometheus which starred Noomi Rapace who is now his star in his debut feature as a director.
🇮🇸 -42 submissions. 1 nomination. 1 additional finalist
JUHO KUOSMANEN | FINLAND | COMPARTMENT NO 6
This is the third feature and second Oscar submission for this 42 year old director from Kokkola Finland. His best known feature prior to Compartment No 6 was The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki (2016) though his debut The Painting Sellers (2010) was also lauded at home nominated for 5 prizes at the Finnish Film Awards.
🇫🇮 - 35 submissions. 1 nomination. 1 additional finalist.
FERNANDO LEÓN DE ARANOA | SPAIN | THE GOOD BOSS
This is the ninth feature and second Oscar submission for the 53 year director. He's previously won two Ariel Awards and five Goya awards. His best known film is Mondays in the Sun (2002), which was also Oscar submitted. The Good Boss is his third collaboration with Oscar-winning movie star Javier Bardem. [REVIEWED]
🇪🇸 - 64 submissions. 20 nominations. 4 wins. 2 additional finalists
SEBASTIAN MEISE | AUSTRIA | GREAT FREEDOM
Great Freedom is the second narrative feature from this 45 year old filmmaker who originally studied Painting and Philosophy. All three of his features, Still Life (2011), the documentary Outing (2012), and Great Freedom have dealt with the complexities of human sexuality. [REVIEWED]
🇦🇹 - 45 submissions. 4 nominations. 2 wins.
JONAS POHER RASMUSSEN | DENMARK | FLEE
The 40 year old director latest has been been celebrated all over the world and recently took home both Best Documentary and Best Animated Feature at the European Film Awards. Can it repeat that double at the Oscars? This interview-based doc about a gay Afghan refugee is Rasmussen's fourth feature-length documentary. [REVIEWED]
🇩🇰 - 59 submissions. 13 nominations. 4 wins. 2 additional finalists
MARIA SCHRADER | GERMANY | I'M YOUR MAN
Schrader is not as famous as her filmography implies but that is surely because she's hard to pin down. The 56 year old multi-hyphenate powerhouse first came to fame starring in the Golden Globe nominated film Aimee & Jaguar (1999), and later acted in Poland's Oscar nominated Holocaust drama In Darkness (2011). After which she began to focus more on writing/directing. She represented Austria with the Oscar submission Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe (2016), before winning an Emmy for directing the excellent Jewish miniseries Unorthodox (2020). Now she's behind the camera again for a existential sci-fi romcom! [REVIEWED]
🇩🇪- 65 submissions. 20 nominations. 3 wins. 4 additional finalists.
PAOLO SORRENTINO | ITALY | THE HAND OF GOD
The 51 year old from Naples is well regarded in Hollywood -- he's already been on the Oscar stage with The Great Beauty (2013), the most recent Italian film to win. Despite a drought since then, Italy remains the most winning country of all time in this race. Auteurs doing autobiographical fiction has been in style for decades but it's especially prominent of late given the run of Roma, Pain and Glory, Belfast, Sorrentino's coming-of-age tale and (next year) Spielberg's The Fabelmanns. [REVIEWED]
🇮🇹 - 65 submissions. 28 nominations. 11 wins. 3 Honoraries. 1 additional finalist
JOACHIM TRIER | NORWAY | THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
Trier was born in Copenhagen, Denmark 47 years ago but he's actually a Norwegian director. Worst Person in the World, which won Best Actress at Cannes, is his fifth narrative feature and aside from the English language Louder than Bombs, all have been set in Norway. Only the drama Oslo August 31st (ironically his most famous film in the US) was not submitted by his home country for the Oscar race. [REVIEWED]
🇳🇴 - 43 submissions. 5 nominations. 2 additional finalists.
LAURA WANDEL | BELGIUM | PLAYGROUND
The 37 year old Belgian director makes her feature debut with Playground, a school bullying drama. She previously directed short films. [REVIEWED]
🇧🇪 - 46 submissions. 7 nominations. 1 additional finalist
SEE THE EARLIER SUBMISSION LISTS FOR ALL 93 FILMS THAT WERE VYING FOR THIS LIST
Reader Comments (6)
Thanks for this, Nathaniel. A really good read.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Hamaguchi or Sorrentino were nominated for Directing.
Lamb instead of Titane is a CHOICE
Europa, Europa...
Too Eurocentric, as usual.
Thanks again for your coverage of International cinema!
I wrote a "thank you letter" several times under this post previously, but there was something wrong with commenting...
I still wanted to come back here and give hugs for this excellent overview and the overall coverage of the foreign films by you and Claudio! So THANK YOU! :)
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